Bhavesh Patel - one of the two men sentenced to life imprisonment for alleged involvement in the 2007 Ajmer dargah blast, returned home to Bharuch two days ago and was given a grand welcome by the crowd which included office bearers from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

Clad in saffron clothes and calling himself Swami Muktanand, Patel was welcomed by a large crowd. (Source: Express Photo)

Bhavesh Patel – one of the two men sentenced to life imprisonment for alleged involvement in the 2007 Ajmer dargah blast, returned home to Bharuch two days ago and was given a grand welcome by the crowd which included office bearers from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), according to a report by The Indian Express. 40-year-old Patel was handed life term along with Devendra Gupta (42) of Ajmer by a Jaipur court in August 2017.

The Rajasthan High Court had granted him bail last week after the lawyers argued that the men had been convicted on the basis of “human probability… circumstantial evidence… conjectures”. On his arrival at Bharuch, Patel was accompanied by his brother Hitesh and others who had gone to Jaipur to complete the bail procedure.

Clad in saffron clothes and calling himself Swami Muktanand, Patel was welcomed by a large crowd at the Bharuch railway station. He went in a procession from the Swaminarayan temple in Dandiyabazaar to his house in Hathikhana area.

The 40-year-old was carried on shoulders by locals at the procession which was attended by BJP’s Surbhiben Tamakuwala, president of the Bharuch municipality, councillor Marutisinh Atodariya, VHP’s Viral Desai and local RSS members, as per the report. Both Bhavesh and Devendra Gupta are former RSS members. People showered rose petals and burst crackers with joy.

Tamakuwala was quoted as saying by IE that he had received a message on a WhatsApp group and went there but doesn’t know Bhavesh Patel. Meanwhile, Atodariya said Hathikhana area falls in his ward and he has known Bhavesh since childhood. He added that Bhavesh has changed his ways and became a Swami in jail.

“We came to know that Bhavesh had changed his ways and had become a Swami in jail. He was returning home, so I was present and felicitated him,” he said.

The Ajmer Dargah bomb blast occurred on October 11, 2007 just before ‘Iftar’ at the shrine that is popularly known as Ajmer Sharif. The bomb was placed inside a tiffin carrier and had claimed three lives while 17 others were left injured. A National Investigation Agency (NIA) court found Sunil Joshi and Devendra Gupta guilty on charges of conspiracy and Bhavesh Bhai Patel was found guilty of planting the explosive on the blast site.